Pikmin Life Challenge
by kingalex1234
Summary: as a videogame, pikmin is fun. but what happens when the game challenges you in your own world? this is what Alex finds out in this challenge. but, when his biggest enemy is time, what can he do to save not only himself, but his biggest heros?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Prologue

This happened some years back, but I figured I might as well write it. First off, my name is Alex, the same one that explored the pikmin world. What I didn't know, or didn't remember, was they had explored my world first. Confused? Well, let me clear it up for you.

I was about…10, maybe 11. Currently, I was playing pikmin 3, where I was trying to complete the story mode in as few days as possible. Well, the game gave me a new story mode that I didn't think even existed. The strangest part? It had humans in it, not gigantic humans, but pikmin sized ones.

Weird, right? The humans communicated with the pikmin in a similar way the captains did, except they used more verbal commands than whistles. Anyways, the story ended a bit weird, and seemed to be incomplete.

After I finished that story, a new one opened up. It had a title: the biggest challenge. It was a weird title…but I decided to try it. Little did I know, that decision would change my life…but that's later.

The game opened to a cut scene. It showed an overhead view of what looked like a play set I had made in the park. Don't ask about it, that's a REALLY long story. Anyways, the scene soon shifted to the sky…where 7 onions were hovering, circling around each other. The colors were the same as in the normal modes: Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, White, Black, and Pink.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the rocket from pikmin 2 plummeted from the sky, and crashed into a crater. The rocket was obviously broken beyond repair, and it ejected two captains: Olimar and Louie.

The view shifted back to the sky, and a second, larger ship shot through the sky. At the last second, it pulled up, but it hit a mountain wall. The impact caused it to eject its three captains: Alph, Britney, and Charlie. The captains landed in a small cave. The ship plummeted into a different cave further away, I assumed it landed safely.

The view once again shifted to the sky, where the onions drifted away from each other. The white, purple, black, and pink onions flew off into the distance, landing in different areas. The Blue onion went towards the cave where the Kopites were, and the Yellow one went towards the Hocatitians.

The Red one stayed hovering. I was wondering why, until the Dolphin came crashing down. The scene faded as the Dolphin plummeted through the sky, the Red onion in close pursuit.

The screen showed 2 words: Good Luck. It then went black. A flash emitted from the game pad, and I passed out.

**Yay! New story! This is based on a weird dream I had, so it won't have the normal logic most pikmin games have. Anyways, criticism, review, and input are all appreciated! Bye for now!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 1: into the game

I struggled to open my eyes as I looked around the room. The room was pitched black except for the TV and the game pad. The TV had an overhead view of a small field with the Dolphin in it. The Dolphin was fine, except for the fact that the engine was missing completely. The game pad, however, was pitched black. I decided to go to sleep, so I pressed the home button on my gamepad…and the screen lit up with a bunch of options.

"Huh…that's wired" I said, talking to myself. I shook my head and pressed cancel, then I walked out of the room…and fell face first onto the grass. The moment I got up, the game pad rang, and the screen showed the words 'incoming call'.

I waited for it to pick up, thinking it was a sequence, but nothing happened. After a bit, I pressed the A button, and the screen lit up with the S.S. Drake and a white background.

"Hello" it said "as you probably know, I am the S.S. Drake"

"Is this really happening?" I whispered.

"Yes, it is" the Drake said, as if responding to me. My eyes widened "surprised, aren't you?"

"Well…yea" I said.

"There will be time for questions later" it said "right now, you need to find the captains"

"Ok, but how?" I asked. I was still trying to determine whether this was pre-recorded or not.

"I have the signals of Olimar and Louie, however they are trapped by a wall of fire" the Drake went on "after the call ends, I will be able to show you a map. It will have the signal on it, and it will show you what you've seen. Good luck!" the transmission ended, and then the screen changed.

Most of it was black, except for a small area where I was. There was a small circle that emitted pulsing yellow lines. One other thing caught my eye though…there was a red object nearby.

I looked away from the gamepad and walked over to a small opening. As I walked, I noticed part of the map turned into color around where I was walking, and the helmet I was wearing had various information pop up. Not enough for me to not see, but enough to catch my eye. Actually…when did I put on a helmet? Oh well.

Soon, I saw the red object. The weird thing was, it was the red onion…and about 5 red pikmin playing under its light. As I approached, they turned towards me.

"A captain!" one of them said. They all started talking at once, but I was more concerned with the fact that I could understand what they were saying. Was I dreaming?

"Uh…hi there" I said, not knowing what to do.

"He's talking to us!" "No other captain has done that!" "And he isn't using his whistle!" the pikmin were obviously shocked that I had spoken to them.

"Uh…I'm Alex" I said "and, uh…" I trailed off, not knowing how much they actually understood.

"Alex? What does that mean?" "Does he need our help?" "Wait, his ship is broken, maybe that's what he needs!" the pikmin started speculating again.

I sighed "ok, I'm just going to say it" I said, finally tired of their constant questions "I can understand you, and I need your help"

They stared at me, completely silent. I noticed the red that had first spoken was brighter than the others, as if more powerful.

"My name is Flame" the brighter red said "and we would be glad to help a captain, especially one who understands us"

"Cool!" I said. Before I could say anything else, the game pad started ringing again.

I pressed the home button, and I saw the face of Olimar. "Hello?" he asked.

I had to stop myself from screaming in joy "hi!" I said, a bit too excitedly, I felt.

"Good, you can hear me" he said "I am Captain Olimar of the Hocotate freight."

He paused, but it took me a second to realize he was waiting for me to speak "I'm Alex" I said "of…uh…" I couldn't think of what to say. What would happen if I said I was from Earth? Did he even know where he was?

"Memory loss?" he asked. He didn't wait for my reply "that's ok, happens to the best of us. I see your signal, but I can't get to it…do you have any pikmin with you?"

"Yes, I have 5 reds right now" I said.

"Good" he said "we can see an onion a little bit away, but there's a wall of fire blocking us. I think the reds can take it down, but we don't have any"

"Who's we?" I asked, though I think I already knew.

"Oh, I have a partner, Louie" he said "you'll meet him later, but right now, you should find shelter. It's almost sundown and the creatures here are hostile" the transmission was cut off before I could reply.

Looking around, I noticed a dirt wall blocking my only path out…I also knew there was no way I would get it down AND find shelter before sunset. I did, however, see a couple of pellet poesy seeds, so I knew I would be able to bring up the pikmin population in the morning.

"The wall will protect you for tonight" Flame said "but we're going to go into our onion"

"Wait…you're going to leave me all alone?" I asked.

"Without us on the ground, the monsters are less likely to attack you" Flame said "sleep well, you'll need it!" before I could say anything else, he went into the onion, then it took off.

I sighed and looked at a pile of leaves that seemed comfortable, then I laid on them. I kept thinking about my talking with Olimar, and how I can understand the pikmin. After a bit, I fell asleep, thinking about what I would do tomorrow.

**Yay! First chapter done! Again, this is based on a dream, so the enemies might be a bit…drastic. Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 2: a strange surprise

I woke up on the bed of leaves and watched as the onion landed. It took me a few moments to remember where I was, and that I had a spacesuit on. Most of what told me is the fact that I went to rub my eyes and hit the helmet instead.

"Ow…" I said sleepily, rubbing my hands. I didn't dare take off the helmet, in case something had altered my ability to breathe oxygen. Instead, I looked at the onion. I was so distracted, that I hadn't noticed the pikmin getting out.

"Hiya Alex!" Flame said behind me

I jumped up and turned around "god, you scared me!" I said "I thought I'd have to call you out"

A couple pikmin giggled "well, normally yes, but we knew you'd be disoriented, so I decided to go to you instead" Flame said "from how you were acting, it looks like I did the right thing"

"Yea" I said. I looked around and noticed that several Pellet Poesies had grown overnight. I felt kind of bad destroying them, now that I was looking at them through a helmet instead of through a screen.

"I can get the pikmin number up" Flame said "all you would have to do is pluck the pikmin, and leave the rest to me"

Well…it wasn't me killing them now, was it? "Ok, you do that" I said "once the wall is taken down, I'll take control again"

"Ok!" Flame said, then he turned to his group "get our numbers up, now!" he commanded. The pikmin scrambled in different directions, each attacking something.

As seeds grew into sprouts, I plucked them, and the pikmin would go off to collect something. I noticed that some pikmin would start attacking the wall instead though. After about an hour, the group was fairly large, and the wall was destroyed.

"We're done!" Flame said.

"Oh, good" I said. I was usually more alert, which meant something was wrong.

"You should take off your helmet" Flame said "it looks like you're having trouble breathing"

I shook my head "I can't risk it" I said, not realizing Flame probably didn't understand what I meant. "Let's go, I want to find someone"

He shrugged and started walking off. I lead the pikmin down the path, and listened to their conversations. I noticed some of the voices were higher than others, and I realized that the pikmin had genders, just like humans. One conversation in particular caught my attention.

"there's no way they were any better off" a girl said "we were next to each other for a reason after all!"

"But what if a captain found them?" Flame asked "maybe they're in the same condition we are now"

"Yea, and maybe a bulborb can be friendly" the girl said "you know how unlikely it is that they even survived?"

"Amber, you aren't listening" he insisted.

"I don't have to listen!" Amber replied "you aren't the leader anymore, Alex is!"

I couldn't help thinking they were just like children…who knows, maybe they were. The clock struck noon, and an alarm rang in my helmet. I sighed, knowing I'd have to find shelter soon. I looked at the scenery, and couldn't help noticing everything seemed…empty. I could hear the sounds of nature everywhere, but there wasn't a creature in sight.

There was a loud roar behind us. "Flame, what was that?" I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

"Probably a Bulbear" he replied calmly.

"Should we run?" I asked.

"Considering we only have 20 pikmin, that's probably best" he replied. And that's exactly what I did.

I took off through the forest, the pikmin close behind. My heart was racing, and all I could think about was getting as far away as possible from whatever had made that roar. I had played pikmin multiple times, and usually it was VERY hard defeating any bulborb with 20 pikmin, and I could barely defeat a Bulbear with 100! Not paying attention, I ran straight into a wall, and hit my head against my helmet.

"Ow" I said, wishing I could rub my head right now. I got up and looked at the pikmin, then noticed they were all staring at the wall I had hit.

I stepped forward a bit, then turned and looked at the wall…the sight was stunning! The wall was actually an obelisk, and it had 7 sides with symbols everywhere. On each side, a line ran from the tip straight down the middle to the floor. The side I was on had red symbols, and a red pikmin on each side of the line, seeming to lean on the line as if it was a wall. The other symbols were too complex for me to make out.

The floor was stone, and on the floor was a circle, kind of like the circle an onion would land on. There was a line leading to the obelisk, then another leading towards the path I had just came from. The thing was, that path was now blocked by a wall that I was sure wasn't there before. It had symbols similar to the obelisk, so I didn't question it.

I walked around the obelisk, and found that it was almost exactly the same with the others…except each side was a different pikmin color, and the two pikmin were the type that were colored the same as that side of the obelisk, and so were the markings on the ground…except they lead to walls instead of paths.

The red onion landed just as the sun started to set, and the pikmin ran in without saying anything. The onion then took off. The onion had landed above the red circle, which was now slightly brighter for some reason.

I found a comfortable spot, then I laid down. I started wondering what all this could mean. Was this some form of test? Why was I here? I drifted to sleep thinking about this.

**Yay! Another chapter done! I'm thinking about making a pikmin crossover, but I'm not entirely sure I should…what do you guys think? I put a poll up on my profile, in case you want to put your input in. Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 3: path of fire

A loud alarm woke me up. "Enemy detected" a voice echoed "protection of human commencing"

Protection of human? Suddenly, the obelisk glowed red, and a stream of fire shot out along all of its sides. I quickly shielded myself, not that leaves would do much good. When the obelisk finally stopped, it looked like nothing had happened.

"I must be imagining things" I mumbled, standing up.

The sun was bright, just a little brighter than yesterday. I could see the bright red markings reflect the light as if they were glowing…which I thought was pretty cool. I noticed that the top section of the obelisk was a bit different from the rest. It was curved in more, like a normal obelisk, but the symbols on the red side were understandable, but the other sides weren't. On one side of the line, there was an onion; the other side had the number zero.

The onion landed on the circular symbol on the ground, and I called out all 20 pikmin. I looked at the obelisk again, and now the number 20 was on the side where the number 0 was moments before.

"I must be hallucinating" I mumbled to myself.

"Pikmin don't get hallucinations" Flame said "we just accept what we see as real, and don't try to understand it"

I shook my head "whatever, let's just go down another path" I said.

"There's one that way!" Amber said, pointing to a path that had yellow lines leading to it.

"Let's go then" I said. We headed down the path. I looked at my gamepad, which I had put in a pocket in my suit, and I noticed this was a path going towards the signal, which was good.

After a bit, we got to a dirt wall, which we quickly took down. Behind the wall was a large, circular arena. The arena had scorch marks everywhere, and behind it was a wall of fire, supplied by a row of fire geysers. Behind the fire wall, I could see two figures, one with a red suit and one with a blue…Olimar and Louie.

"Olimar?" I asked, running up to the wall.

"Alex!" he said, also running up to the wall "and you have pikmin!"

"I told you" I said "do you know how to take down this wall?"

"Try the pikmin" he said. I didn't even have to say anything as the pikmin went up to the wall…and stood there.

"These aren't closeable" Flame said.

"I don't think they can do anything" I said.

"Oh" Olimar said "well, I have a fire proof suit I might be able to use. I can help you adjust it once we get to your ship"

I was about to reply, when a loud roar echoed through the forest. "I think I'll take care of this thing first" I said, turning towards the source.

The wind picked up, throwing dust everywhere. The pikmin started running around frantically, but because of my helmet, I could see through it…and I saw a large bulborb with some red goo on it. The dust finally cleared, and we all looked at the Bulborb…who was now one large fireball.

He roared again, then looked at me, unmoving. "Uh…hi." I said, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Why are you in my nest?" the beast growled.

"Well…I kind of need to take down that fire wall" I said, pointing at the wall of fire blocking Olimar.

"No" it said "the fire is there for a reason, and I don't have to explain it. Now get out of my nest, or face the consequences"

I sighed "the consequences involve us fighting, don't they?" I asked. It nodded "well, I'm not leaving without the spaceman"

"They you don't leave at all!" it roared. Without warning, it shot a fire ball. I knew the pikmin would be fine, so I quickly moved out of the way…only to find out that the pikmin hit end up going crazy.

For about 10 minutes there was chaos between the fire bulborb trying to hit me and the pikmin running everywhere. Oh, did I mention I had gotten 100 while getting to the arena? Yea…I actually don't know how that happened myself…

So, you have pikmin running everywhere, I have a bulborb trying to fry me, and then there's the fact that my suit was going crazy from the heat. And then, the bulborb attacked…with its teeth. 5, 10, 15, 20, this guy was taking them in handfuls! With half the pikmin gone, he stopped…and the reds retaliated.

I had absolutely no idea what was happening now, and I was pretty sure Olimar felt exactly the same way.

"You've seen pikmin before, right?" I asked.

"Uh…" he stared at the fight speechless.

I rolled my eyes "that's a no" I muttered to myself.

The creature let out a loud roar, then fell. The pikmin jumped down and cheered, then, all at once, they started carrying the now dead creature back. I had to keep telling myself I had never told them to attack it in order to calm myself down. The strangest part was, the fire wall was still up and the sun would set soon.

"Come back tomorrow, we'll talk again then" Olimar said, finally regaining his voice.

"o-ok" I said shakily "see you in the morning" I walked off, trying to stop myself from crying.

I HATED when anything died. I didn't know why, I just did. I think it might have come from something that happened when I was younger, but I wasn't sure. But even though the beast wanted me dead, and I wasn't the one who killed it, it still hurt me to know something died in front of my eyes.

I got to the pikmin and plucked the 50 pikmin that had sprouted. The sun was setting, so the onion took off. I also noticed the walls with symbols were back, but I just ignored them. I laid in my normal spot and quickly fell asleep.

**Yay! Two chapters in one day! This was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but…oh well. Remember that I said the events are very dream-like, so that's why things may seem a bit…unrealistic. Remember I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 4: yellows added

I woke up, and the onion landed soon after. I took out 50 pikmin, then I headed down the yellow path, which had opened up again. Moments later, my gamepad rang with the Drake calling me.

I picked it up and pressed A "yes?" I asked.

"sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing" the Drake said "I have detected a strong power surge heading this way"

"wait, power surge?" I asked "like, electricity?"

"correct" the Drake said "I believe it is a storm, and it will be here in a number of days"

I hesitated "you don't know how many days, do you?" I asked.

"it is too far away to predict" the Drake replied "however, I do know it will be devastating"

I hesitated again "how strong are the winds?" I asked quietly.

"about…35 miles per second" it said "or 75 miles per hour" the Drake said.

"so…a hurricane?" I asked, mostly to myself "that would kill all of us"

"you have over a week, but not much more" the Drake replied "I wish you the best!" the transmission ended.

I sighed, trying to calm myself down "ok, let's go" I said, then we headed off.

After a bit, we got to the arena again, and I saw that the wall of fire was gone, and Olimar was with Louie and about 50 yellow pikmin.

"I don't get it, there aren't 100 pikmin out" Olimar said.

"I think I found them" Louie said, pointing at me.

They both turned to me, and so did the yellow pikmin they had. "hi there" I said a bit awkwardly.

"hello" Olimar said.

"Hi!" the yellows cheered excitedly.

"FLAME!" one yellow, who was a bit brighter than the others, yelled excitedly. The yellow tackled Flame, and they rolled off a bit.

I looked at Olimar, who seemed not to notice "so, you're Alex, huh?" he asked.

"yea, that's me" I replied. "and I see you got the yellows"

"yea" he said "strangest thing happened. When I woke up, both fire walls were gone. I actually almost got carried away by the group of five pikmin that were by the onion."

"ok" I replied, then I looked at Flame and the yellow. It looked like the yellow had pinned Flame down, and she was talking to him really fast.

Olimar wondered off, and I went over to them. "…and then we saw the wall of fire!" the yellow was saying "so we tried to get through it, but we aren't fire proof, so we went to gather food, but there wasn't any, so-"

"oh, Alex, hi" Flame said, cutting her off.

The yellow looked at me "oh…hi" she said, quickly getting off of Flame. I swear, it looked like she was blushing.

"this is Daisy" Flame said "Daisy, this is Alex. He can communicate with pikmin"

Daisy stared at me in wonder "that's so cool!" she said. I swear, I could see sparks running along her body.

"I'm guessing you two know each other?" I asked.

"yea" Flame said "we've known each other since we were plucked. Actually, Daisy-"

"I'm his best friend!" Daisy interrupted "we go EVERYWHERE together!"

I thought I saw confusion on Flame's face, but I ignored it "I think we should head back" I said. and after getting Olimar and Louie's attention, that's what we did.

I noticed Flame and Daisy talking. Flame was usually calm, but I could hear a note of excitement in Daisy's voice, especially if Flame had complemented her on something.

After a bit, we got back to the obelisk. Both me and Olimar stared at it in interest, Louie just started looking for berries or creatures. I knew Olimar had never seen it, and that's why he had such an interest in it…my interest was for another reason.

The yellow side was brighter now, and the tip now had the same markings as the red side, with the 20 from yesterday being a 50 now…on both sides. Besides that, every side had changed a bit. The two pikmin were still there, seeming to mirror each other as they leaned against the line, but now there was a new marking. Now, next to each pikmin, was a man in a space suit.

"this is incredible!" Olimar said "the markings, the color, the glow that seems to come from it…its breath taking!"

"Tell me something I don't know" I said.

Olimar looked at me "it's emitting an energy signal" he said. I stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. "I'm guessing this is where you slept" Olimar said.

"yea" I replied. Then I noticed the walls were back, and the yellow onion had landed.

"well, at least it's sheltered" Olimar said sleepily "I'm going to get Louie and go to sleep, good night" he walked off. The numbers on the obelisk were 1 each now, and I noticed the pikmin had gone inside…all of them except Flame and Daisy.

"…and then they were airborne!" Daisy said "and you wouldn't believe how it felt! Being thrown up into the branches, higher and higher, and then finally BAM! Sunlight! It's brighter on top of the tree! And then this other time…" she just went on and on…it was amazing Flame put up with this.

"Are you guys ok?" I asked.

They both looked at me "yea, we're fine Alex" Flame said. Daisy just giggled, not saying anything.

"Ok, you guys should go into your onions" I said "it's almost sunset"

"Got it!" they said together. They both went to their own onion, then they took off.

I kept thinking about how strange all of this was. I was stuck in a world next to an obelisk that seemed to be constantly changing. To make matters even weirder, I had met one pikmin who seemed obsessed with another, and the two captains I had found were currently finding a place to sleep outside of their ship.

I yawned and laid down in my normal spot, and I soon drifted to sleep.

**Yay! Another chapter done! This is getting hard to write, especially when I don't know if I'm doing well or not. I also still want to know what you guys think about me writing a crossover fan fiction…oh, and did you notice some foreshadowing? Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 5: electric current

I woke up and stared at the sun. I didn't really want to get up, but I knew I had to…for my sake and the others. I groggily got up as the onions landed, and saw that Olimar and Louie were already up and walking around.

"Morning Alex" they said

"Morning" I replied with a yawn. I felt like everything was thicker, and I had no idea why.

Olimar took out 50 of both pikmin "you know…the colored markings on the floor are intriguing" Olimar said

"Yea" I replied, yawning again "let's follow the blue one today"

Olimar looked at me with concern "you don't look well Alex" he said "are you ok?"

"I'm fine" I said, yawning a third time "let's just go, ok?"

He hesitated "ok, if you insist" he said, then we started off the path with the blue line.

Besides how bad I felt, I looked at my surroundings. It looked very peaceful, and it looked brighter than normal…though that might have been my head messing with me. The thing that was the most strange was the suit was picking up electrical signals, which shouldn't happen.

"Is anyone else picking up power signals?" I asked sleepily.

"There's probably electricity nearby" Olimar said, as if it was usual "with the yellow pikmin we'll be fine"

After a bit more walking, Olimar sent Louie to put the reds away and exchange them for yellows, because the signal had gotten WAY stronger than before. He got back as we got to a large arena, with a charged gate in the back.

"Well, there's the energy charge" I said, yawning again.

"Alex, you aren't ok" Olimar said "you shouldn't be that tired unless you either didn't sleep, or something else is wrong"

"I'm fine" I said "just haven't woken up yet"

"It's been 6 hours" Olimar replied, concern obvious in his voice "you either need to rest, or we need to figure out what's wrong with you"

"Fine" I said "but later" before he could argue, I started walking to the gate, 50 pikmin following me.

As I was walking, I noticed the scenery. The place was barren, but this time it wasn't scorched. Everything seemed to be naturally not there, as if the seeds were repulsed by something. What I didn't notice was the fact that there were several metal plates sticking out from the ground…so you can imagine my surprise when a giant robotic creature lifted me up and flung me into the wall.

I shook my head as a loud whistle rang out from my suit, though I didn't even know it had a whistle. The robot went crazy, and its hands turned into tesla coils as it started zapping everywhere, completely missing everything. After a bit it stopped, and I got up unsteadily.

"h-hey!" I said, not really thinking "that wasn't nice!"

It looked at me "did I really hit you that hard?" it asked, obviously surprised at my reaction "no matter, it isn't nice invading my nest either"

"We didn't mean to invade" I said "we just need to find someone"

"Look somewhere else then" it said "or I can just zap you"

"But I-" I was cut off as the robot tried to zap me. Luckily he missed, so I didn't get the full impact…unfortunately I was flung back by the power of the impact, and I hit the wall again.

As I tried to focus my now double vision, I saw Olimar next to me, and the pikmin in front…I had no idea where Louie went.

"You're lucky I missed" the robot said "now, you can either get out or I won't miss this time"

"What did he say?" Olimar asked

"Get out or fight pretty much" I said, dazed.

Olimar didn't even have time to react before the pikmin attacked. It was another crazy battle as the pikmin attacked the robot in ways I had never seen, all the while avoiding the bolts of electricity it constantly shot at them. It was weird watching the fight…but it didn't seem like either side had an advantage.

And suddenly…the robot stopped. A loud screeching sound filled the air, and then it exploded, leaving a single metal plate.

Me, Olimar, and Louie stared at the plate as the pikmin cheered. "That was…interesting" I said.

"Yea, it sure was" Olimar replied. The pikmin started carrying the plate and some yellow goo that I hadn't seen before.

The pikmin came back soon, and we looked at the wall of electricity in front of us "well, might as well take it down" I said.

I sent the pikmin to take down the wall, then Olimar turned to me "there isn't a signal coming from anywhere…I think the others might have gotten hurt"

"The signal would still be there" I said, remembering that Charlie still sent a signal when he was in the Phosbat, and so did Louie in both cases "I think there's something else we don't know"

We had made little progress on the gate by the time the sun started setting, so we went back to the Obelisk, and then we put the pikmin in. I noticed the metal plate was lying in front of the obelisk as the onions took off.

"Hey, do you guys know what this metal plate is?" I asked

Olimar came over and looked at it "hmm…doesn't look like anything I've seen" he said "maybe we should look at it in the morning…night Alex"

"Night" I said as he went to wherever he was sleeping.

I looked at the plate again, noticing it had some symbols on it that were similar to some of the ones on the obelisk. I yawned, trying to clear my head… at least I wasn't passed out… not yet at least. I went to my normal sleeping place and laid down, looking at the stars. I thought for a moment about the metal plate, and why it might be useful…but I quickly fell asleep.

**Yay…another *yawns* chapter done… this chapter took way too long to complete…sorry…I haven't had the best sleep recently, so I haven't been as focused as I'd like to be…not that most of you care…at least that's how it seems. Anyways, I might be a bit slow at updating the next chapter, but I'll try my best. Remember: criticism is welcomed, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 6: Metal and Water

Olimar and Louie were already up when I got up. "Morning Alex" Olimar said.

"Good morning" I said. I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes and once again hit my helmet. If I didn't think I would die from the air…

"Louie got the blue pikmin for us" Olimar said "and I think we have about…30, maybe more."

"Oh…that's good" I said. My mind was really slow, and I was still processing where we were.

I looked at the blue side of the obelisk and I noticed it had changed again. The two pikmin were still leaning on the line down the middle, and the space suit was below each one, but the suit didn't have anyone in it now, and a small bulborb was standing with the suit in its mouth…I hated to think about what that could mean.

"Hey! This seems like Hocotate writing!" Olimar exclaimed, looking at the metal plate "but…it has Kopi writing too…how fascinating!"

"Huh…I guess we'll need the Kopites to fully understand it then" I said with a yawn.

"Hmm…" Olimar studied the plate, thinking through its possibilities "let me see your suit" he finally said.

I walked over and he went started playing with the pack on my back "careful, I need it to survive" I said.

"…that's strange" Olimar said "it says…never mind, just give me a second"

Before I could wonder what he meant, the screen lit brightly, then it went back to normal. "…what did you do?" I asked.

"I upgraded our radio signal" he replied "you should get another signal now"

And sure enough I did. The signal was weak though, and kept flickering "wow…but it doesn't look right" I said.

"It'll take a day to properly settle" Olimar said "I don't have the mechanical knowledge required to fully upgrade it, so…"

"Its fine" I replied "what was so strange about my suit?"

"Oh! It said your life functions were lower than normal" he said "but given the way you're acting, I figured it was just a virus"

"Ok" I replied. Olimar started studying the plate again. I was so busy watching him that I didn't notice a couple of pikmin come up behind me.

"Hi Alex!" Daisy exclaimed. I jumped and turned around, which caused several pikmin to giggle.

"God, you scared me!" I said.

"Sorry, just wanted to introduce you to my friend Aqua!" she said. A blue pikmin was pushed out of the crowd.

Like Flame and Daisy, her difference was the lighter color of her skin…but the difference was how she acted. While Flame and Daisy both looked at me with wonder and awe, she didn't even look at me, she just stared at the ground quietly, almost as if she was scared.

"Hi there" I said gently.

Her cheeks became red, which I found odd for a pikmin "h-hi" she said, so quietly that I could barely hear her.

"Sorry about her, she's REALLY shy" Daisy said "I can remember one time, she ran into a bulborb and-"

"That's enough Daisy" Flame said. Aqua had finally looked up at me, and I could see she was scared.

"you don't have to be afraid of me" I said "I'm here to help" I didn't know what to do, so I hugged her…which seemed to help a lot, because she wrapped her arms around me as if hugging me back.

She smiled at me "thank you Alex" she said, then she let go and went next to the leaders.

"So, where to now?" Daisy asked.

"We're staying here today, the signal is too unstable for us to follow it" I said.

"Oh, ok" she said. A moment later, the pikmin started playing, only the leaders sitting off to the side.

I noticed each pikmin seemed to have a different personality, but…it was almost color or power based. Flame seemed calm most of the time, but I've seen him get…well, fiery. He LOVES to fight, and he'll attack anyone, or anything, he sees as a threat. Daisy is excited, and often described things as…static, I guess…she's always excited, and she seems flowing with energy. Aqua, as far as I've seen, is the odd one out. The others act calm at times, but she's always upset. She's never complacent, and is often…watery? I don't think that's a term…oh well. She's shy, but willing to help.

"I give up! I give up!" a blue exclaimed.

"Good" Amber said, getting off of the blue.

"Do you ever learn, Jet?" a yellow asked.

"I'd like to see you try to take her, Static!" the blue, who was probably Jet, replied.

"Nah, I think I'm done embarrassing boys for today" Amber replied with a yawn. Then she giggled "it looks like Alex saw"

They both looked at me "hi there" I said.

They were silent "Alex, this is Static and Jet, Daisy and Aqua's partners" Amber said, giggling again "and probably the most foolish pikmin of their color"

"You're a Red, it's just not fair!" Jet complained

"You're the one who keeps wanting to fight her" Static said, amusement in his voice.

Amber yawned again "you two are so boring! I'm going to go see Daisy, she owes me a massage" she skipped off. I wondered how pikmin even knew about massages…oh well, another mystery.

The walls appeared again as night fell, and the pikmin went into the onions as they took off. I looked at the gamepad, and I saw that the signal had stabilized "look Olimar! The signal is stable!" I said

"That's great Alex!" he replied "now, how about we all get some rest"

I nodded, then my suit glitched and started beeping "w-what's happening?" I asked.

Olimar looked at my backpack "oh…seems it wasn't a virus" Olimar said.

"What are you-" I was cut off by a fit of coughing as the air was taken from me. I gasped for air that wouldn't come, and suddenly…everything was black.

**Another chapter done! Yay! I really shouldn't be averaging a chapter a week…but oh well! I should pick up the pace to one a day again soon though, so yay! Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 7: water monster

I gasped for air as I woke up. Where was I? Did I die? Why do I feel like I've been underwater for hours? I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Wait…I rubbed my eyes…my helmet!

I jumped up and realize I was in the same place as yesterday, but I had my regular cloths on! No suit, no helmet, nothing protecting me…and I was fine. Nothing was broken, I was breathing normally…in fact, I felt better than before!

"Morning Alex" Olimar said, walking up to me with my helmet and space suit.

"Morning!" I said "why did you take off my suit?"

"Well, I realized the reason it was giving the 'critical levels' reading" he said "it was because it was filtering out the thing you needed most: Oxygen"

"Oxygen?" I asked. I wasn't the best at chemistry, so I had no idea what Oxygen was.

"Yea!" he said "as it turns out, you didn't need the space suit at all. In fact, it was hindering your ability to breathe!"

"Huh?" I asked. He wasn't making much sense.

"Let me explain" he said "you see, these space suits filter Oxygen, which is poisonous to Hocatitians…" he started explaining what had happened, but I couldn't really pay attention.

"Wow…that's a lot to take in…" I said.

"Yea, isn't it amazing?" Olimar asked

"Yea, it is" I said, not wanting another explanation "let's take out the blues and go down the purple path, I think that's where the signal is coming from"

"Ok!" Olimar said. I put on the suit and helmet, turning off the life support. We got out 100 blues, and then we headed off down the purple path.

Everywhere I looked, there were dew drops along the path. Looking at my sensor, I could tell the air was moist as well. I started thinking about how each path showed a different element…before I knew it, we were in another arena…this time it had water everywhere.

"Look! There he is!" Olimar said. Sure enough, lying on the other side of the lake was a boy in a light blue suit.

He looked over "oh, hi!" he said, waving.

"Why don't you come over?" I asked

"Well…there's the problem" he said.

"What problem?" I asked, stepping into the water…big mistake.

A large creature grabbed me, pulling me into the water. I quickly turned on the life support to let me breathe as the creature pulled me down…and then stopped. All I saw was a large, grayish object, nothing else was around. Being my curious self, I decided to grab the object…and I was launched up.

A loud roar rang through the forest, and the water moved…and formed a large, humanoid creature.

"What in the world is that?" Olimar asked.

"That is what the problem is" Alph said "I can't get out with that creature there"

The creature stared at me…not menacing, not with hatred, just…curious. "What are you doing in my nest?" it asked.

"We were just trying to get across" I said.

It stayed silent for a moment "fight me" it said "I cannot be killed, so you would merely send me somewhere else"

"Ok I guess" I said. Before I could say anything else, it swung at me…and the battle began.

The moment the creature swung, the pikmin jumped into action. Most of it was a blur of blue, whether it be water or pikmin. I could never pin-point the height of the action, but I knew something was happening.

1 hour…2 hours…3 hours… they were still going at it, with no signs of stopping. It was getting even more bizarre…and suddenly, it stopped. The creature let out a final roar, then shook off the pikmin. A moment later, a spout of water shot up…and goo poured down. There wasn't a lot, but there was still a pool of water, so the pikmin took the goo back and we headed back to the obelisk.

"That was amazing!" I heard Jet say "did you see me? It was all 'get off me! And I was all 'no way!' and…" Jet went on and on, much like Daisy did sometimes…I guess the thrill of battle gets to a lot of the pikmin.

"Enough Jet" Aqua said "go talk to another pikmin"

"Ok!" Jet replied excitedly. He immediately started talking to another pikmin.

After a bit of walking, Aqua spoke up, talking to me this time "do you think I did well?" she asked.

I looked at her, then looked back at where I was going "yes, I think you did very well" I said. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her smiling, obviously delighted at my comment.

She stayed silent for a bit "why are you the only one who can understand us?" she asked.

I thought for a moment "because I'm native to the planet, like you" I replied.

"Oh" she said. She thought for a moment "how come you wear a space suit then?"

"Because it protects me" I said "otherwise I would be dead by now"

"Oh" she said again.

By the time we got back, it was already dark, and the pikmin went into their onions, then they took off. I looked at the symbols on the obelisk, noticing how each side had a different bulborb, different suit, different pikmin…in fact, even my suit was on one of the sides, there was even an emperor Bulbax on one side.

"I'm going to sleep" Olimar said "sweet dreams" he walked off.

Sweet dreams…was that why so many things were confusing? Was this all one big dream? Was I in a coma? Was someone worrying about me, trying to wake me up with no luck? I yawned and laid in my normal spot. Whatever was happening, I knew I needed to complete it, regardless of whether this was real or not. I thought about the pikmin and how much they had surprised me as I fell asleep.

**Yay! Another chapter done! I don't have much to say, mainly because I feel it would be a waste of time at this point… Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 8: shades of purple

I woke up and got up immediately. I felt much better today, and felt like I could take on anything…even though I knew I couldn't. The onions landed soon, and I called out 25 of each color, though I wasn't sure why I choose that number. After Olimar and Louie got up, we headed down the purple path again.

It took a bit, but when we got to the large arena, what I found kind of surprised me. Anyone who has played pikmin 2 knows they don't have an onion, even in pikmin 3 they only reproduce through Candy pop buds (as far as I know). Why am I saying this? Because when I got to the arena, the first thing I saw was a pellet poesy…that was the color purple.

"A purple Pelet Poesy…how fascinating" Olimar said.

"Yea…very" I replied, deep in thought. If there was a purple pellet, then that meant there had to be a purple onion, right? And where there's a purple onion…

"The gate way is open!" Olimar said. Sure enough, the enormous amount of water was gone…but I also couldn't see Alph.

"Wasn't Alph here yesterday?" I asked.

"He was…maybe he went to look for the purple pikmin" Olimar suggested. Then we heard a surprised yelp.

We ran over to where the sound had come from, to find Alph pinned down by a purple pikmin. Whatever had spooked Alph, it made him so surprised that he forgot about his whistle. Olimar was a bit shocked, and I was surprised myself…the pikmin on the other hand seemed to enjoy it.

The purple looked up at me, then at the pikmin "oh…are you a captain?" he asked

"Of course he is!" a female purple said "you can't be THAT dense!" most purples were super heavily built, even the females. This one stuck out, not because of her coloration, but because she was thinner than the others. Actually, she's the only pikmin I'd refer to as 'girly' in appearance.

The purple got off of Alph, and Alph jumped up, running over to us. "Great, you scared him!" the female said.

"Shut it, Bell!" the first purple said.

"Just because you're named Muscles doesn't mean you can boss me around!" Bell shot back.

"Instead of fighting, how about you two actually pay attention to us?" I asked. They both looked at us.

"You can understand us, can't you?" Bell asked. I could tell Bell was smarter than most pikmin.

"Yes, but I'm the only captain that can" I said.

They both looked at me "that's so cool!" Muscles said. I expected Bell to be impressed too, but she just looked at me, curiosity in her eyes.

"How about you show us your onion?" I asked.

"Ok!" Muscles said. He walked off, and we followed.

Bell immediately started talking to the pikmin, but I could tell she didn't quite fit in with them. Maybe it was how different she was from her kind of pikmin, or maybe there was something else in that purple female's mind, but she was WAY different.

"Here we are!" Muscles said. There were three pikmin, one at the base of each of the three onion's legs. The onion itself was pretty unremarkable, except for the fact that it was purple.

"Did you guys look for anything?" Muscles asked.

"Well…we were going to" one of them said "but we got into a wrestling match and, well…"

"Unproductive as always" Bell muttered.

I glanced at her, then looked back at the pikmin "ok, how about you guys take down the Pelet Posey's that are around us?" I suggested.

"Ok!" they cheered, then all of them except Bell went off to find a pellet. Bell, on the other hand, just looked at me. The captains went off with the remaining pikmin, leaving me alone with Bell.

"You're different" Bell said "the captains don't understand us, they only use the whistle to communicate…you don't. You seem to prefer talking to us, rather than using high-pitched sounds…you're like me"

"I suppose I am, in a way" I said.

I had always been weaker than most of my classmates. The doctor said it was a traumatic event from when I was little, my friends tell me it's because I haven't hit puberty yet, and everyone else says I'm just built that way. To make up for my lack of strength, I studied…when I wasn't playing videogames, of course. I'm REALLY smart, and I thought about what that might mean about Bell. She was built lighter than the other purples…so why is she one of the few with a name?

"I'm going to go find a pellet, see you later!" she walked off.

After a bit, each of the purples was carrying a purple 10 pellet. And after the first one got back to the onion, they started throwing 5 pellets between each other, eventually adding up to 98 pikmin…and that's when Bell came back, carrying a 1 pellet.

"How long does it take to bring a 1 pellet?" a purple asked rhetorically

"Shut up, I had to find the right one" Bell retorted.

We got the pikmin settled, and then we headed back to the Obelisk. The captains and I stared at it, but I noticed Bell was studying it too. The purple side was brighter now, but that's not the only thing that had changed. On each side, the pikmin that were leaning on the line were now facing each other, as if looking at a mirror. The bulborb on each side did the same.

"Interesting…" Bell said. She seemed smarter than most pikmin, which probably made up for her lack of strength. She really was a lot like me…in a different species kind of way.

Moments later, the sun set and the pikmin went back into the onions. I laid in my normal spot, and Alph followed Olimar and Louie. I thought about the pikmin again as I fell asleep.

**Took me a while, but another chapter is done! Yay! To the guest reviewer who gave me my first review on this story: thank you! When I said reviews encouraged me, I mean reviews REALLY encourage me. The more reviewers review my story, the more focused I'll be, and the more likely you'll have a better story in less time. But, enough about that. Remember: I love criticism, Reviews encourage me (if that wasn't clear), and I'm open to input.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 9: white cloud

There was a loud thump as I woke up, and I noticed that the onions had landed. Not only that, but the purples had broken a stone wall, probably by throwing large rocks at it. I found their initiative interesting, and what was more interesting was how they figured out you could destroy the wall that way.

"Morning Alex!" Bell said, startling me.

"Oh, morning Bell" I said after realizing it was her.

She giggled "like what we did?" she asked "I figured it was the best way to take it down"

"Yea, it was great" I replied, yawning. We got 20 of each pikmin, then we headed down the purple path.

There wasn't really anything remarkable about the path, it was pretty much just one giant valley, with random things just thrown around. I shrugged and kept walking. Bell hung close to me, just like Aqua, and most of the other purples trailed behind. I remembered the one thing I absolutely hated about purple pikmin was how slow they were, though when I later found out about their increased fire-power, I grew to love them, just like every other pikmin.

"Oh! A gate!" Alph exclaimed as we approached a gate.

"Hang on" Olimar said. Then he looked at me "Alex, would you mind taking a look?"

I sighed. I probably should have guessed he would ask me to check for enemies, but I was still a bit upset that I had to be the bait. It didn't really matter, because it was obvious that, whether something had been there or not, nothing was there now.

"Does anyone else smell something weird?" a red asked.

"Only reds can smell, you know that" a blue said. They all started arguing, but Bell was watching me as I walked into the field.

"Hello?" I called out.

"PERSON!" I barely had time to register the voice before I was tackled by a white pikmin.

"Get off of him Nock, he's probably terrified!" a female white said. The pikmin, who I assumed was Nock, got off of me. "Sorry about him, he's a bit…excitable" I heard several giggles from nearby.

"It's fine" I said. I turned to the captains "you guys can go back to the Obelisk, I'm going to get at least 20 whites"

"Be careful" Olimar said "I'd hate to have you eaten by something" he walked off with the others before I could reply.

The female white sighed "aren't purples dreamy?" she said in that entranced voice girls sometimes get when thinking about their crush.

"Yea, as if I'd want a body builder for my girl friend" Nock said condescendingly.

"I'm still here" I said, not wanting them to start fighting.

"Oh, sorry" the female said "I'm Toxic, and this is Noxious, more commonly known as Nock"

"Nice to meet you two" I replied "you guys seem pretty calm about me understanding you"

"Well, we know you're special" Toxic said "anyways, we already have 20 pikmin, we figured we should do that for when you found us"

"Oh, well, that's good" I replied "let's get to the Obelisk, ok?"

"Ok!" Toxic replied happily. She turned the other way "come on guys!"

A group of pikmin ran up, then we headed back to the Obelisk. The first thing I noticed was the Obelisk had changed again. The white side was brighter now, and the pikmin and bulborb seemed to be holding hands with their counter parts on the other side of the line in the middle.

The second thing I noticed was the pikmin, especially Bell. They were fighting with each other, everyone except for Bell, who was staring at Alph curiously.

"Hey!" I shouted, trying to get their attention.

They all looked at me with curiosity, but at least they had stopped fighting. "I don't know what got into them!" Olimar said.

"It doesn't matter" I replied, a bit annoyed "all of you go back into your onions" the pikmin all went back into their onions, except for one of each color. The whites had all gone back, probably too far away to be safe.

"We're sorry Alex" Aqua said "the pikmin was getting restless and we couldn't control them"

"Its fine" I replied "they must get restless after a while"

"No kidding" Flame said "especially the purples. How many times have you had to get them to stop wrestling?"

"About as many times as you had to tell one of your reds not to attack an innocent creature" Muscles replied

"It's not his fault Reds are so hostile!" Daisy said, as if defending Flame.

"You mean like how yellows love to shock everything they touch?" Aqua asked quietly.

"We do NOT shock everything we touch!" Daisy retorted "and who said you could last a day without swimming?"

"You take that back!" Aqua shouted.

"Why? Are you going to cry again?" Daisy replied mockingly.

"That's it!" Aqua launched at Daisy, which surprised everyone. Soon, Aqua let out a surprised yelp, and started crying "She shocked me!"

"That's what you get for attacking me!" Daisy replied.

"You know what, just go to your onions" I said "you can sort this out in the morning"

All 4 pikmin went to their onions angrily, but I knew it would fade…except maybe from Flame.

"Oh, I have something you might want to see, Alph" Olimar said, dragging Alph to the metal plate I almost forgot about.

"Oh, Kopi writing…with some Hocotate in it" Alph said

"Can you decipher the Kopi part?" Olimar asked.

"Brittany knows best about this" Alph said "I have her signal though, so we should be able to find her easily"

"Great!" Olimar said "hear that Alex?"

I nodded "we can all get home soon after that" I said. I was already starting to miss my family, but I figured I could wait a few more days.

The captains went to their normal spot, and I went to mine. I thought about the pikmin as I slowly drifted to sleep.

**Yay! Another chapter FINALY done! I don't know why I'm taking so long with writing these things, but at least they're getting written! Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Oh, and I need names for a winged and rock pikmin. Bye for now!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 10: poisonous road

I woke up screaming, which apparently startled the captains, who came running.

"Alex! Are you ok?" Olimar asked.

"I-I'm fine" I said shakily. I had just had a nightmare where just about every bad creature had attacked me at once…at least, I think that's what it was.

"What happened? Did something attack you?" Alph asked.

"No…just a bad dream…" I said, slowly calming down. I couldn't remember most of the dream; just strange shadows that seemed to conceal my worst fears…I can't remember ever having a dream like that since I was seven.

"Well, nothing's going to hurt you now" Olimar said. The onions landed just then.

"Ok" I said "Alph, do you have Brittany's signal?" I asked

"She's down the grey path" Alph said.

"Ok, 100 whites it is" I said. We took out 100 whites, and then started walking down the Grey path.

It was really more of a dark Grey when I thought about it…not that a 10 year old should know the difference. The path itself was unremarkable, though it was also kind of barren. There were a few greenish-purple plants along the path, but otherwise just grass and walls.

We got to an arena area again, but nothing was there…again. There was a gate that had what looked like poison generators, but since we had the whites I figured it would be fine…until I tried to walk through it and almost suffocated.

"Ok…that poison is REALLY strong" I said.

"It seems to go through the space suit" Olimar mused.

Just then, I heard the roar. In moments, a cloud of purple gas started forming, twirling around itself like a cyclone. Parts of the cloud formed arms and hands, legs and feet, or other parts of a body. Finally, most of it had squeezed together, and standing in front of us was a large purple monster.

"Why are you here?" it asked, more curiosity in its voice than anger.

"We were following a signal" I replied, used to the monsters talking by now "I'm sorry if we bothered you"

The monster looked at me "then leave, that way we don't have a problem" it said.

"The thing is…we need to get past the wall of poison" I said, pointing towards the gateway "but the poison is too strong"

"Sounds like a problem" it said. Before we had time to react, it shot a ball of acid at us, causing the pikmin to scatter as we barely moved out of the way in time. The pikmin were fine, of course, but we wouldn't have been.

"You aren't getting past there" the monster said "so you can run, or you can try to fight…your choice" it shot another acid ball at us.

"Ok, he won't let us through" I said as we dodged another acid ball.

"I got him!" Toxic said. In a moment, the whites swarmed the monster.

It was a mixture of purple and white as the creature tried spraying the whites with poison, but had no effect. Chaos broke out as the creature started reforming itself as more than one, or even tried to distract the whites.

After what seemed like hours, the monster gave a final roar, and then burst. White goo rained down as the poisonous gas dissipated.

"Looks like that's done" I said

"Yea…but where's Brittany?" Alph asked.

I looked at my game pad "it says she's nearby" I said "my guess is she's somewhere passed the poison wall"

"Then why hasn't she come over then?" Alph asked.

"We can't get over there yet, so let's come back later" Olimar suggested.

"Good idea" I replied "I'm feeling a bit dizzy anyways" we headed back towards the Obelisk. Let me tell you, whites are VERY hyperactive.

"What are we going to do? Are we going back to the onion? Are we going to see other pikmin? Maybe we'll see new enemies!" Toxic went on and on…and Nock wasn't much better.

"Maybe there are other pikmin! I wonder what they think of us. What do the current pikmin think of us? Maybe I'll be a leader and make my own pikmin some day!" he just went on at 100 words a minute.

Most of the whites were either talking supper fast or running circles around each other, but I noticed Toxic would also look around her occasionally and point at things, or change the subject.

When we got to the obelisk, most of the pikmin went back into the onion. The only ones still out were Toxic and Nock, who both seemed to need to burn off energy. I knew whites were faster than others, what I didn't know, and now realized, was that their fast pace came from them being hyper all the time. Although that didn't explain why they were so weak…

"Can I go out? Please?" Nock was asking Toxic.

"No way, you'll get lost again" Toxic replied. Again? Something told me Nock was known for getting into trouble.

"Come on! I'll be careful this time, I promise!" Nock insisted "pretty please?"

"No" Toxic said firmly.

"But you never let me do anything!" Nock complained. I found their arguing kind of fun to watch actually.

"That's because you always get yourself into trouble" Toxic said. I noticed Toxic had a flower and Nock had a leaf, and I started thinking about the possibility of growth based on the flower they had.

"But I won't this time!" Nock said.

"How about you two get into the onion for tonight" I said. I decided it would be best if they just went to bed.

"Sure thing" Toxic said happily.

"Whatever" Nock muttered. They both went into the onion just as the onions took off.

I noticed Olimar had been watching, taking notes on a note pad I had found in the ship, but he soon wet off to bed.

I decided he had the right idea, and I went to my normal sleeping spot, and fell asleep quickly.

**Yay! Another chapter done! I have no idea why it's so hard for me to come up with ideas…oh well! I have an idea for the next chapter that I've been wanting to use, so that should come quicker…oh, and I think the ending is going to be AMAZING, if a bit confusing. Remember: I love criticism, reviews REALLY encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 11: hard shell

There were already 16 of each pikmin out when I got up, though I noticed there were 17 reds, yellows, blues, and purples. I didn't question it, thinking Olimar brought them out.

"Good morning Alex" Olimar said.

"Morning" I replied, then I looked at the pikmin.

I had started thinking about how the pikmin resemble humans, and I realized that their maturity was based on whether their stem had a leaf, bud, or flower.

Flame had a flower, and often acted like a commander, with Amber, who was a bud, being the rebellious teenage daughter that would soon inherit the command. Daisy had a bud, and often acted like an overly-attached teenage girl, while Static, who had a flower, acted very mellow, which made me wonder why Static wasn't the leader.

Aqua had a flower, and often acted like an adult, though she had her emotionally unstable teen moments. Meanwhile, Jet acted like a child trying to impress an adult, and had a leaf.

Bell and Muscles had matching flowers, and acted as parents who had opposite views. Toxic, who had a flower, often acted like a mother hyped up on coffee, while Nock, who had a leaf, acted like a hyperactive child.

"Let's go find Brittany, the poison should be gone now" Olimar suggested, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Ok" I said. Then we headed down the grey path again. Once we got to the arena, I noticed the poison generators were gone…but I also noticed a faint banging.

"Do you guys hear that?" I asked the captains "there's a faint banging"

We went through the gate and it got louder. "Hello?" a voice called out.

"Brittany!" Alph exclaimed. He ran down the path, with us following.

We got to a crystal wall, which Brittany was banging on, trying to break it. "I can't break through it!" Brittany complained "it's our first exploration all over again!"

"Just relax" Alph said. He turned to me "I'll try to calm her down, you look for the rock pikmin, ok?"

I nodded and walked off, Olimar and Louie stayed with Alph to try and help. It didn't take long before I heard the familiar pikmin noises. Moments later, I saw a grey onion with about 5 rock pikmin around it.

The rock pikmin were throwing themselves at each other, as if seeing who can last the longest…it was interesting, to say the least.

"Hi there" I said. The five pikmin looked at me.

I noticed most of them had leaves, though one had a flower and the other had a bud. I noticed the two who didn't have a leaf also had a bit of a darker coloration.

"Hi!" the flower said "I'm Rocky!"

"Nice to meet you Rocky" I said "and who's this?" I looked at the bud.

"Shell" Rocky replied, before Shell could say anything.

"Why do you have to answer for me?" Shell asked.

"Can we not do this now?" Rocky asked. Based on the tone of his voice, I could tell he had been through this before.

"Whatever" Shell said, then he walked off.

I looked at my pikmin and saw Amber poking her head out of the crowd, but I decided to ignore it, thinking it was nothing.

"Oh, almost forgot" Rocky said "do you want us to collect pellets?"

"I'd like that" I replied.

"Ok boys!" Rocky said, turning "you heard him, start collecting pellets!"

The three rocks that were still listening ran off, and Rocky started talking to some of the other pikmin. They were pretty self sufficient, so I left them to themselves.

Most of the pikmin had either gone to help the rocks, or had started talking with each other, but I noticed Amber had gone after Shell. Again, I thought nothing of it. Moments later, the rocks had a total of 16.

In a moment, I not only brought the rocks to Alph, but I also had the wall taken down…I expected Brittany to only thank me, but instead she practically tackled me as she hugged me.

"Thank you so much!" Brittany said

"Uh…you're welcome" I replied. She let go and we headed back after introductions.

The rocks got along very well with the others, but I noticed the others were acting differently as well…again, I dismissed it.

"Oh my goodness!" Brittany exclaimed as she saw the obelisk.

I actually had to stop myself. The grey side had lit up, which made the obelisk stunning…but the more impressive thing was how much it changed. The random symbols were almost completely gone now, and so was the line in the middle of each side. The parallel pikmin were riding the parallel bulborbs, and they were looking at each other questioningly. I also noticed underneath them were 5 sets of space suits: red, blue, light blue, pink, and colorless-grey.

"Hey, do you think you could depict part of this?" Alph interrupted my thoughts, and obviously Brittany's as well.

"Oh, sure" she said. She was lead to the metal plate.

"I have half of it, but I can't understand the Kopi writing" Olimar said.

"Hmm…" Brittany looked at the plate, thinking "I think I know what to do to find the captain…but let's get some sleep first"

The sun was setting, so I agreed full heartedly with her. The pikmin got into their onions as they took off, then the captains went to their normal spot as I went to mine. I noticed the Obelisk reacted to onions landing in the circles near each side, which I found interesting. It was almost like the obelisk was put there to keep us away from something until we were ready…but that seamed crazy.

I started thinking about the pikmin instead. Each type had a different personality, but there were 2 pikmin that were different as well. They also seemed like armies, which kind of went against normal pikmin logic…but I decided it was my imagination.

I laid on my 'bed' as I thought about how close I was to seeing my family…and I fell asleep.

**Yay! Another chapter! I actually got this one done in a day…it was a day, right? Well, I actually feel accomplished! Oh, I'm likely going to finish this story VERY soon…although, it doesn't seem like many people, if anyone, cares about that…oh well, I like writing, and obviously SOME people read it. Anyways, I want to do a pikmin crossover and see how well I merge 2 worlds, but I'm not sure what world to do. What do you think? If you want to give me suggestions, you can either send me a PM, or put it in review. Wow that's a long Authors note…anyways. Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 12: flying high

The onions had already landed when I woke up. I could almost feel tension in the air…I knew the storm was close, I didn't need the ship to tell me. Brittany was looking at the metal plate with Olimar, and Alph had gotten out a group of pikmin. It looked like he had 14 of each type, except for red and yellow, which he had 15 of.

"Morning Alex" Alph said as he walked up to me.

"Good morning" I said with a yawn

"Brittany got Charlie's signal" Alph said "the only thing is, she also got the ships signal"

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

"Well…" he was hesitant "you see, the signal isn't coming from above ground, neither one is…but the ships seems to be coming from a place we can't get to"

"Well, let's tackle that problem when we get there" I said optimistically. I wasn't really sure why I was feeling optimistic about anything, but I decided it was the best thing to do.

We headed down the pink path. There were crystals scattered along the path, as if they were plants. Thinking about it, I had learned that crystals 'grow' just like plants when the right conditions are met. Actually, I had a kit that let me grow my own crystals at one point…it was too messy and not fun enough.

The arena area was deserted, except for the various plant life. I could see a cave nearby, but it was blocked by a rock with some fluke weeds on it. I swear, those things will grow anywhere. Across from us, there was a gateway in the back of the arena, which was the only way to continue.

"Hello?" I called as I stepped through.

"CREATURE!" before I knew what was going on, a winged pikmin tackled me.

"Ow…" I said weakly.

"Flight! What did I tell you about attacking things?" I heard a different voice yell.

The pikmin that had pinned me down fluttered up, letting me get up. She giggled "sorry Ariel!" Flight said.

Another winged pikmin flew over, three others following. "Its fine" the pikmin, who I assumed was Ariel, said "who did you attack anyways?" she turned to look at me.

"I think he's a captain" Flight said "Oh my goodness! Maybe he has pikmin! Then we can talk with whites again! Oh my god I love whites, like, this one time…" she just kept going on about different things the whites did. I swear, something was up with her.

"Uh…I think I can clear that up" I said.

They looked at me "you can understand us?" Ariel asked.

"Maybe he can understand other creatures too!" Flight said "maybe he can stop them from attacking! Or figure out how the defeat them permanently! Maybe he can talk to the Onion!" she kept going on and on again.

"Flight! Stop talking!" Ariel practically yelled.

"But I can't help it! It's not my fault I'm one of the few hyperactive wings!" Flight said "I still say we come from whites, which is why we're so fast and weak. I don't care what anyone says! Like, this one time, I was talking to them…" she started talking in rapid fire mode again.

Ariel rolled her eyes "Flight, if you don't stop talking I'll slap you into the next cycle!" Ariel said.

"Ok, I'll stop!" Flight said, finally being quiet. She was still buzzing with energy, but it didn't show as badly.

Ariel turned towards me again "so, population growth, right?" she asked.

I nodded "you're smart for a pikmin" I said.

"No, just used to it" she replied calmly "girls, get to it!" she called. The other wings giggled and flew in different directions. We got up to 14 before there were 100 total pikmin.

"Ok, that's 14" I said, turning to the captains.

"I still don't get how you do that so easily!" Brittany said.

I shrugged "it helps to be able to listen to them as much as they listen to me" I said.

"FLUKE WEEDS!" before I could figure out where the sound was coming from, all 14 pikmin had rushed over to the Fluke Weeds on the rock, and were all pulling. In a moment, the rock launched up, and rolled off, smashing into pieces too tiny to see.

"Huh? Who's there?" a voice echoed from inside the cave.

"The captain!" Alph exclaimed, running in. I didn't dare go in, but I didn't need too. After a moment, Alph came back, pulling Charlie along with him.

"Oh, hello" he said.

"Hi" I replied as he looked at me "don't worry, I'm friendly" I swear, I felt like my words weren't all my own.

"Oh, you have to see the structure we found!" Brittany said. The wings went to their onion as we started heading back, the sun setting behind us.

When we got back, the sight I found was stunning. The whole obelisk was brightly lit, and the colors made it stunning. The symbols had almost blended with each other, and it was really hard to depict the different pictures from one another.

I yawned as the pikmin went into their onions and took off. I knew the storm was close, and so was escaping this weird and wild dream. As the onion took off, the obelisk sent a rainbow colored beam up. I thought nothing of it, and the captains didn't notice.

"We're going to sleep" Olimar said "good night"

"Good night" I replied as they went to their normal sleeping places.

I yawned and laid down on the pile of leaves. I was convinced this was a dream now, but I kind of liked it…although I was a bit home sick. The obelisk seemed to be pulsing with color now, but I convinced myself it was my imagination. I was happy I'd be going home, but also kind of sad I'd leave this adventure. With those thoughts, I slowly drifted to sleep.

**Yay! Another chapter done! I'm sorry about the slow updating, I can't focus on the story much anymore…but the next chapter is going to be the last one! A future warning, the last chapter is a bit…spasmodic? It takes the dream part of the story, and really puts it into action. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am! Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: pikmin belongs to Nintendo, and so do its characters.**

Chapter 13: ending chaos

The ground shaking woke me up. I ignored it, thinking it was my imagination…until the ground collapsed from under me. I heard several surprised yelps, one of which was mine, as I fell, and hit the ground.

"Ow…" I said weakly.

I opened my eyes and saw the onions hovering; obviously they had almost fallen too. The obelisk was completely gone, and the ground had opened up, trapping us in a cave of sorts, except with an opening to the sky. There were 15 of each pikmin out, and they had apparently fallen with us, including the wings.

The onions flew off, and I knew that we were alone now. I figured the pikmin would find their way to the onions if we survived, but it was surviving that I was worried about.

"Ugh…that was a rude awakening" I heard Alph say.

"I don't think I ached this much when I woke up since our first exploration" Brittany complained.

"On the bright side, I think we found the way to our ship" Olimar said optimistically.

"Then let's go!" I said, jumping up.

Looking around, there were 8 paths, two in front, two in back, and two on either side. The cave walls were shaped in an octagon, with a cave in the middle of each wall. Each cave had a symbol on top, and each symbol was different. One was a picture of a fiery Bulbax as it was sleeping; another was a couple of Anode beetles creating an octagon with their electricity. One was a goolx as it absorbed a pellet; another was a Water Wraith crushing flowers. One was the Smokey Prog as it emitted poison, another was the armored Mawdad roaring, and another was a group of scornets in a star formation.

The last one was the one that caught my eye though. It was a picture of a large creature I had never seen before…and it seemed to be guarding a ship.

"That's the way" I said, pointing to that path.

"Yea…but the creature it symbolizes bugs me" Olimar said.

"Nothing the pikmin couldn't handle, I'm sure" Alph said. And so, we started walking.

Soon, the light faded, and only the glow of Glow Caps lit the tunnel. It was eerily quiet as we got to a chamber that seemed to go on forever. It had walls along it, but through the dim light we could see most of the room that we'd be able to normally.

"I don't like the looks of this" Olimar said.

"Shouldn't there be something here?" Alph asked.

"Let's find out" I said. I used the whistle in my suit, and blew it loudly.

The sound echoed creepily, as if we were in a horror movie. I could feel the fear in the air, mine included. Suddenly, light flooded the room, seeming to come from nowhere…and I knew why it was dark.

"Uh...is there supposed to be THAT many creatures in one room?" Olimar asked.

"No" I replied quietly "and they aren't supposed to look like they want to kill us either"

Standing in the room, looking straight at us with the most hostile expression you've ever seen, were a ton of monster of different sizes…and we were their targets.

"You guys stay back…I'll fix this" I said. I got into a fighting stance, the pikmin at my side…and chaos erupted.

Enemies came from everywhere, and I had to use maneuvers I didn't think possible to avoid them. The weirdest part? The pikmin followed perfectly. Jumping, rolling, sidestepping and twirling. Everything I did they mimicked perfectly. I didn't even need to throw them; they launched themselves at enemies when there was an opening.

Let me try to describe it. A dwarf orange Bulborb charged at me, and I knew I couldn't roll, so I jumped up, hopping the pikmin were faster. Instead of moving out of the way, the pikmin followed suit, jumping up with me. As soon as the dwarf stopped moving, several purples body slammed the same dwarf, killing it instantly.

And it didn't stop there. After a bit, the wings figured out the attack patterns, and they would grab pikmin and throw them at enemies while in mid air. I barely knew what was going on, and I was winning!

Finally, the last creature fell, and I landed, panting. I looked at the captains "told you I'd fix it" I said.

"Fix it? I've never seen anything like that!" Olimar exclaimed.

I smiled and we kept walking, the illuminating light comforting. Thunder rumbled through the air, and I knew we had very little time before the storm struck, and even less time before the really deadly creatures showed up.

We got to a smaller chamber with a ledge at the back…and on the ledge was the ship.

"The ship!" Alph exclaimed. The captains ran up to it, and I walked up with them. I was fine, but I made a mistake, I left the pikmin in the center…right where about 20 Dwarf orange bulborbs appeared from nowhere.

"What the heck?" I asked no one in particular. There were 25 pikmin left when the last one was defeated…and the largest, scariest creature you've ever seen appeared right in front of me, gobbling up most of the remaining pikmin.

The creature looked like a pitched black centipede, and had spikes running along everywhere. It seemed like it came straight out of someone's nightmare! I ran off, the 7 surviving pikmin following. The counter popped up, showing I had 10 seconds, and the creature was in close pursuit.

5 seconds now.

The creature charged at me, spikes ready.

4 seconds…

It swept its tail under me, knocking me off balance.

3 seconds…

The pikmin ran to protect me. If the creature got past them, we were both dead.

2 seconds…

The creature approached, ever so slowly, its spikes bristling and its many teeth gnawing, ready to shred me to pieces.

1 second…

The pikmin stepped back. The creature was armored; I could see it now that it was up close. There was no way of defeating it.

0…

The creature was ready to lunge, and I looked away.

BOOM

Thunder cracked loudly over head, and the creature roared loudly. When I opened my eyes, it was gone.

I unsteadily stood up as the pikmin cheered. The captains slowly walked over "are you ok Alex?" Olimar asked.

"I'm fine" I said. I felt like I had a pounding headache, but otherwise I was ok.

"You're bleeding!" Alph exclaimed. Not thinking, I went to feel my head…and realized the helmet had shattered.

"Oh…" I said. I took off what remained of the helmet and glass poured off of me.

"We can get it fixed" Brittany said "come on"

I shook my head "I don't think so" I said. Thunder boomed in the distance, and I knew there was very little time left.

"What do you mean?" Alph asked.

"You guys go, I'll stay here and find shelter" I said "thanks for everything"

They hesitated, then they went into the ship. The pikmin had fled a while ago, and I watched the ship rocket into the sky. The sound of thunder rang through the air again. The wind picked up, moving through the tunnel, and spraying dust everywhere.

…and then, I woke up in my room. A light bulb had fallen and shattered, causing me the worst headache and several cuts on my face. Was it all a dream? Had I really just imagined it?

It all seemed so real…but it couldn't have been, could it? I slowly sat up, glass falling off my face. The game pad was ok, so I was happy…but it was on, and it was telling me to look at the TV. I did, and I saw a new mission. The new story modes were gone, and instead, a single new level was in mission mode. The title? Pikmin Life Challenge…

**Wow…how long has it been? 2 months? 3? Oh well, I'm finally done, yay! I don't have a clear idea of the next story, but it's called "The New World," and it's in the 'X-overs' category. I hope that you guys enjoyed the story, because I put a LOT of work into it. Remember: I love criticism and reviews encourage me! Also, if you have an idea you'd like me to write, feel free to tell me! Bye for now!**


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